Wichita eagle., 1887-11-30
MARK TWAIN'S YOUTH.
GHoWaHE CAME TO BE A PILOT
IN rsoN THE MISSISSIPPI.

Clemens Learned inc CIookS Suo SnR4.
Z low,, a the Great River-First Literary
Work. g.
Capt. Horace Bixby, OF tAs mAghifesas
steame, City Of Baton Rouge. is the most
popular man on southern waters. Capt
Bixby d. e well preserved relic Of the golden
aes of Il ,e river, and has been . constant stu.
dent of ,currsnts and chutes for forty yearA
Horace Bixby is the man who taught Mark
Twain ow to steer a steamboat, and the sue
cesx of b is whilom cub has reflected consider
able gibry on the tutor. That was away
back in the sos, when Bixby was pilot, and
after all these years he is now Of the opinion
that pilot Is Q bigger man than captain
any d, ". and especially On dark night In .
tight lace Capt. Bixby Is now 81 years of
age. an d he says: Il am just nine and half
wears o lder that Sam Clemens" When IN
a rer,ip jscent mood the other day be said:
at was quite remarkable how Sam Glenn
eng hap, ,ened to become q pilot BE has
written a great deal about it himself, but
DOM believe he ever told il all. II was In the
sprinlr of 81. was then running regularly
betvasn st. Louis and New Orleans and &C.
casiom,lly doing an outside job on tho Ohio
river from Cincinnati to New Orleana II
was on one of these outside trips that first
met Clemens l was taking the Paul Jones
down from Cincinnati, and b. was passen-
car ON boat d. In those times the pilot house
was a great loafng place for passengers and
pilo,s out of work. They came in, spit al;
over the wheel, snapped lies. and then left
the o llot on duty to slosh around in the
debris I didn't like it a bit, and / was
mighty short with ell passengers who at
tempte d to talk with me. One morning when
the be st reached island No. IS in the Mis-
sissippi river, and we were booming along at
q good gait, young man walked into the
pilot no, Use, and after watching me for few
minutes, said Good morning. in
drawing manner"
az said good morning mighty sharp,
thinning it would freeze him out But it
didn't he said:
"D-o MT you want boy to learn
the r-i-v-e-rr
""No; don't want any boy to learn the
river. What are you pulling your words
th at way forT
"I don't know, you Will h-a-v-e
to ask my mother She d-o-es the
sa- u-e thing
AZ thought be was chatting me when he
said that and looked up, but his face was
inst = sober as preachers BE then asked
me il i knew the Bowens who were on tho
river. ] toni him that / did and worked
With ono Of them In 1859. He told mo that
the Bowens lived next tdoor to his father,
Judge Clemens, Of Hannibal, 40. In his
drawing, way be told me Of his plans. He
had lear ned printing OF Hannibal on his
brothers, paper. but Il did not agree with
him, and be was going to South America for
his healt D. He liked tho river, however. and
would ebandon his projected invasion Of
South q america for an opportunity to become
pilot
&sThelfe is only one thing that would In
dvce ne to teach you the river said !. sa.-
la a.WIh-a.t-'s t-h-n.ti" be asked.
- Money said L -
~ Ct Money! be echoed. T. xsHH
III 4 /" That's just it, answered & :.
N How m-u-c-hP he gasped. x =. D..
II G'Fve hundred dollars said. - -
a'we-N, ] ai-n't got that rpu.ch,' said be.
| a'Then you better get Ii II you want to
learn the river replied.
| - "'pve got eight lots up in K-s-o.S-u-k,
| IOWA, but don't know w.ha: they would
| b ring, an I've got 1000 acres Of Land in
| T, .n-ness-ee that can get twenty-five cents
| an acre for said he summing up bis assets
| WEI talked for some time and he Impressed
| me 2very fayorably. It was finally agreed
that be was to pay me 500 down and s75
| ever p six months until the debt was paid
I told him that he would have to provide
his own clothes and board while IN port
/ On tho river be would receive his board
Esaud lodging free. He started in as a cub
}sson the Alsck Scott and h0 learned rapidly.
IS He Was then Just past e. and rather eccen-
4 trio He always had writing paper and
pencil around the pilot house, and was
eternally scribbling away at something.
! I seldom ever tried to investigate the
mysteries of bis manuscripts, but soon
turned bis talent to good account In
those days pilots made out reports Of the con-
dition Of the channel, and Clemens at once
developed into brilliant and picturesque
fiver reporter. His reports were humorous
Al ID ceniained ali the Information. and were
| fri quently copied into the papers Just As he
WI ,te them. This, think. was the first pub
lie writing that be did, except, perhaps. some
squA,s for the Hannibal paper. He was a
good boy, not addicted 70 dissipation, and
obeyei orders. he hated suspssders, and
used a. enjoy himself N very loose clothes.
with hair reached back We steered to
eethert pin many trips, and then he changed
| around VsllQ Az bWO ycofU IeeoiSe0 q uCtuSe
that made him full aedged pilot ais frst
boat vas H. Aloaso Child, under Capt De
Raven, add be kept turning the wheel until
the war broke out His boat was then in the
south, and he piioted three months for the
Confederacy. Then be got through tho lines
and went home. but after q short stay a.
HsnnIbaE be went as a volunteer for three
months in' the army of Gen. Sterling Price
the Missouri Confederate. he fought for the
Confedk,acy three moro months on land and
then rstfeatAd In good order, with his right
resting on St Louis. Els brother, Orrin
Clemens, WIS at that time nominated sscre
tary of the territory Of Nevada, and Sam &C
eompanisd him west Everybody knows the
rest" Il
Three years ago Clemens accompanied
Capt Bixby down the river, and the old sto
lies and slories were revived The result OF
the trip was the book sold Times on the
Mississippi So Louis Cor. Chicago Tribune
Roulette Players Ingenuity.
A large sum was WOE years ago by . smAl
company Of players in the following manner
An ingenious mechanic having come to the
conclusion that II vas impossible to maintain
cylinder in such perfect working order thai
IL should not tend q little to one side or an
| othsy and TINS favor certain numbers NOR